Diet Questions

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AlphaWolf
Posts: 289
Joined: Wed Sep 25, 2013 7:06 am

Diet Questions

Post by AlphaWolf »

Hello everybody,

When I bought Aero, the pet store manager told me to feed him a mix of pellets and seed mix. So basically i noticed that my sneaky Aero is not eating the pellets and only the seed. I think that the best thing to do is give 3 days pellets and 4 days seeds alternating between the two every day. I also want to offer him fresh fruit and vegetables. Sorry but i have literally TONS of questions. Sorry to be such a pest!!!

1) I'am thinking the only way to make Aero eat his pellets is to remove all the mix and feed pellet only for one day. However I'am scared that he doesn't recognise pellets as food even though what the pets tore told me. Pet stores in our area are so totally inexperienced. The guy who told me what he eats told me that after 2 weeks you can let the bird fly outside and it will comeback, what a ridiculous idea. So what is the best way to make him eat a varied diet.

2) How often do you change your bird's seed mix and pellets. Do you throw all the uneaten food away and give him new ones. I fill my food bowl to the top but he eats only a little bit. When do you guys change his food?

2) When do you feed your FIDS fresh fruit and vegetables? How long before you remove the fruit/veggies? How much fruit and veggies?

3) What is your feeding schedule??

Sorry for all the question, after this food hurdle I can focus on taming and bonding. My bird's plumage is not the best condition. I believe with a good diet and a varied diet he could look like the best IRN EVER!!!! Can't wait to help others in diet after I know what to do. Sorry for being annoying and asking questions which I'am sure have already been asked.
"Live with parrots and you learn to panic"

AlphaWolf
ranechild
Posts: 295
Joined: Mon Apr 01, 2013 12:57 pm
Location: Baltimore, MD

Re: Diet Questions

Post by ranechild »

I felt kind sick to my stomach reading the part about letting them fly outside after 2 weeks. well, more like sick with infuriation...
Fats, my 6 month old ringneck, gets boths seeds and pellets everyday--though I know and it is to be expected that he will want seeds more. He's young and very active so he can have a diet higher in seed. I give a little dish of both and once he picks out all the kinds of seeds that he likes he goes and eats the pellets that he likes. I give him fruit flavors Zupreem so he chooses definitively not to eat the grape flavored ones. And orange flavor is definately second to last.

For our pet Quaker parrot Camo, who is older at 14 years, we give pellets for 3 days and then seeds for one or two days. this cuts back significantly on his sunflower seed (read fat) consumption. But we know he eats the pellets just fine when that's all the choice he has. If you are not sure whether your bird eats the pellets at all, this strategy will make for a hungry birdy.

For Fats, I throw out the very little leftovers each day. Mostly grape pellets. For Camo, as long as he hasn't pooped in the pellets and there is enough in the dish, we will leave them in there for 1 to 3 days. With seed mixes we always replace those daily since they are going to eat out the things they like and the rest they will not eat.

We also give treats like Nutriberries on some days. On some days (when there is time) we give fresh foods like apples and carrots and plain cream of wheat. In general we put the fresh food in before work and take it out when we get home. Even that is a little long to leave the stuff in if it's not eaten. If he eats all of it, then there isn't a problem :) generally, you don't want the fresh food to start spoiling or inviting ants or fruit flies.

We change the food and water each morning before work. Fresh food in the morning too if there is time. When we get home from work we generally sit down to dinner. We might give the birdies fresh food from the dinner preparation then too.
Remember that a birds mass is much smaller then ours. So the "eat like birds". When we give fresh foods, we put them in little soy sauce dishes that one might use when eating sushi. That is more than enough fresh to eat before it spoils for a 100-150 gram bird in my opinion. And in general they won't eat all of it, and then a bunch of it ends up on the cage floor....
that's just me. Others will chime in with their habits. And don't forget to use the search function on forum to find much more information!
Little Buttercup
Posts: 345
Joined: Wed Sep 05, 2012 12:03 am

Re: Diet Questions

Post by Little Buttercup »

I gave up trying to make my birds eat pellets after I realized that they do not eat pellets in the wild and why should I force them to eat something which they do not like and can't find in the wild. And I do have access to fresh veg and fruit. So the only packet of pellets that I ever bought got tossed out to the chickens.

I cook for my birds, as well as give them whatever raw fresh veggies that they like. Kiwi and Coco's favourite at the moment is raw green beans, but only if I give it to them as snacks. If I put it in the food bowl they don't eat it :lol: .

I put in enough food to last them half a day, so I feed them twice a day and there is hardly anything left for me to throw away.

I don't give them seeds in a bowl, these I prefer to give it to them in a seed stick, which I make my own. Nuts and sunflower seeds, they get as treats from my hand.

So my birds get fresh veg and fruit daily as their main food.

I cook and freeze portions of food, so I always have a supply when need.

You can add coconut oil to your bird's diet to help with plumage. There is a post on it in this section if you look.

Ash
AlphaWolf
Posts: 289
Joined: Wed Sep 25, 2013 7:06 am

Re: Diet Questions

Post by AlphaWolf »

I was half shocked, hald disguested and really wanted to puke and laugh at the guy's ignorance. Sheesh, what stupidity.

Anyways, I'am giving Aero today only pellets in his bowl and see how he goes. Will update soon. Thank you Skye (love your bird btw especially hamlet) and LittleButtercup. :D
"Live with parrots and you learn to panic"

AlphaWolf
Skyes_crew
Posts: 1946
Joined: Thu Feb 28, 2013 12:49 pm
Location: Hawaii

Re: Diet Questions

Post by Skyes_crew »

Thanks alpha... :D

I wouldn't worry so much about the pellets. You could try to ground them down and make some birdie bread out of them. The fresh fruits, veggies, grains, those are the important parts as Ash pointed out. I recently had issues with my birds diet. They didn't have enough fat content. I was feeding pellets, fruit and veggies. Some grains. That's about it. My vet put it like this, pellets are designed to be the "perfectly" balanced meal for birds. He asked me how many wild birds I thought were out there that counted calories and worried about balancing their diet lol. As bird owners, we strive to reach perfection in keeping our pets safe happy and comfortable. But like me, it sometimes go overboard. Just make sure to balance out fats, grains and fruits...and veggies you can feed all you want. Offer seed. 2Tbsp a day. If you train withhold the sunflower for training. If your bird is clipped withhold the sunflower because he won't burn it off properly without flight. If your bird is flighted and you don't train, you can add a few sunflower to the feed daily. Now all of those foods I mentioned are balanced into a pelleted diet. The difference...by offering fresh, you gave your bird choices. You let him forage for his food as nature intended. Hope that helps :D
I am owned by my birds...and I wouldn't have it any other way :D

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AlphaWolf
Posts: 289
Joined: Wed Sep 25, 2013 7:06 am

Re: Diet Questions

Post by AlphaWolf »

Ok the pellets where a complete failure. :( The pet store owner told me that they feed him a mixture of seeds and pellets. So after noticing that aero never touches his pellets I decided to mix only pellet in his feed bowl. What a disaster. After like 4 hours i notice some nibbled pellets but bowl was still full. So when I gave him a slice of apple as a treat he ate it ravenously infront of me. I was thrilled but when I noticed a watery droppings I decided to give him back the seed mix. Man he started gobbling it like a pig! And infornt of me, poor guy he was starving.

Ok I would like to ask a question. Suppose my schedule goes like this:

8:00am: Change Food,Water,Cage bedding. Food will be seed mix or(luckily pellets in the future).
8:00pm: LIghts out, bedtime

When shall I add the fruits and veggies, when shall I remove it? And do I have to remove the food bowl at night? Oh and Aero eats only a little everyday. I fill his bowl to the brim and I waste a lot of food. Any ideas.
Thanks everyone for your help.

Thank you Skyes_crew and Little Buttercup.
"Live with parrots and you learn to panic"

AlphaWolf
AlphaWolf
Posts: 289
Joined: Wed Sep 25, 2013 7:06 am

Re: Diet Questions

Post by AlphaWolf »

Anyone?
"Live with parrots and you learn to panic"

AlphaWolf
Skyes_crew
Posts: 1946
Joined: Thu Feb 28, 2013 12:49 pm
Location: Hawaii

Re: Diet Questions

Post by Skyes_crew »

Sorry alpha...weekends are usually pretty hectic in my house :D

Just read back over my last answer and most of your questions about amounts to feed and pellets vs seeds are answered. As far as times to feed, that's really what works for you. If mornings are busy for you, feed fresh foods in the evening when you get home. Try not to leave the bowl in the cage all day long if you can help it. Especially with things like hard boiled egg. Bacteria can grow pretty quickly. Maybe if you can skewer some hardier veggies such as bell pepper before you go out, that would keep longer. Birds are pretty flexible to an eating schedule. They don't care as long as its food lol :D
I am owned by my birds...and I wouldn't have it any other way :D

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AlphaWolf
Posts: 289
Joined: Wed Sep 25, 2013 7:06 am

Re: Diet Questions

Post by AlphaWolf »

Thank you Skye, I will re-read the earlier posts. I think I will feed him his veggies at the evening. So maybe morning till around 2 in the evening will be seeds. Around 2-6 I will serve fresh fruit and veggies, And from 6 till 8 in the morning seeds again. Any flaws in my plan? I really want to give Aero an optimum diet. Give Hamlet a treat from me :)
"Live with parrots and you learn to panic"

AlphaWolf
InTheAir
Posts: 2040
Joined: Sat Jan 12, 2013 4:24 pm

Re: Diet Questions

Post by InTheAir »

Alphawolf, I didn't understand your last post very well. Seed/pellets should be available all day for your bird. They won't spoil in a day.
There is a great sticky post on what to feed your parrot in the diet section that can give you more ideas on what fresh foods are suitable for him.
Skyes_crew
Posts: 1946
Joined: Thu Feb 28, 2013 12:49 pm
Location: Hawaii

Re: Diet Questions

Post by Skyes_crew »

Claire, I think he was concerned with freshness of seed and waste. I don't fill my bowls up because otherwise I'd be wasting a ton. They use their seed bowls as a dish for breaking open grapes and other veggies and everything gets yuck. So I put 2 tbsp a day in there and clean it out daily. But if I notice it looks yuck, I will clean it immediately and put fresh seed in it again. So it's always available for my birds too I guess :D
I am owned by my birds...and I wouldn't have it any other way :D

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ellieelectrons
Posts: 2708
Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 1:17 am
Location: Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

Re: Diet Questions

Post by ellieelectrons »

Hi Alphawolf

I feed my birds pellets and a chop mix alongwith a few treats. All of their food except pellets is available to them through foraging. The chop mix I feed them is a mixture of grains, beans and vegetables. They get it every day. I do up a big batch of it and freeze and defrost it as I need it. I don't give my guys a lot of fruit because my vet recommended I lay off anything with too many sugars to try to stop breeding behaviours... however they hasn't been too successful any way.

Ellie.
AlphaWolf
Posts: 289
Joined: Wed Sep 25, 2013 7:06 am

Re: Diet Questions

Post by AlphaWolf »

Hi Claire,

Just to clarify, I only have 2 food bowls in the cage. An at the bottom is a grill. I think I will remove the grill later but whenever I put my hand in the cage Mr Aero freaks out. ( There he goes again giving me that :twisted: stare lol). Shall I add another bowl or what? I'am quite out of ideas as I really want to feed him a health diet. Thanks everyone for your help and support.
"Live with parrots and you learn to panic"

AlphaWolf
InTheAir
Posts: 2040
Joined: Sat Jan 12, 2013 4:24 pm

Re: Diet Questions

Post by InTheAir »

Aaah I see.
We use clothes pegs to attach leafy vegies, chillies and snow peas to the sides and top of our birds cage, so he has to work for them. We change them when they start looking sad and droopy. He usually doesn't give peas in the pod a chance to go off though, he devours them in seconds!
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